Dance in the Garden
by Arianna Sunrise
Summary: Rini is the pretty girl, Elios is the new guy, will the school play bring them together?
1. Acting

This is a cute fic about Rini and Elios, without the whole Princess and Priest thing. They are my favorite SM couple, and since there are no stories that I know of with them as normal people, I am writing one. I do not want flames about any of my story, so don't even bother, because I will just throw them out without reading them. This is not my first fic, but it is the first one that I have posted. If I get positive feedback, I will write more. I will stay true to the magical part of the series, so strange things may happen that I may or may not clarify. This is a sweet fic, so age twelve and up is fine. I will warn everyone if a chapter is going to be a little more than usual, which is doubtful, but hey! So enjoy, and bai! I do not own Sailor Moon.  
  
Rini walked to school in her normal Juuban Sr. High uniform. It had changed since the last year, for instead of being a white blouse with red bows, and a blue skirt, it was a pink skirt with matching pink bows. The blouse was also a bit more modern for the fall and spring, with feathery sleeves, which was the closest the student council could get to something cool. The guys outfit had also been changed for the better, and was now a white shirt that someone might wear with a business suit, and black slacks, along with a black vest.   
  
The new uniform worked perfectly to accent Rini's red eyes, and pink hair, which was in cone-shaped buns on either side of her head. She was about 5'6, with a body that all of the girls wanted, and all of the guys drooled over, and at the age of sixteen, she should have been dating for at least a few years. As luck would have it, all of the boys that she started to like were too nervous around her, and never got up the nerve to ask her out.   
  
There was only one guy in the school who asked her out, this would have been fine if he didn't do it every day. That guy was Aki Shion, and though he was almost the male version of Rini, with the handsome looks and huge muscles, he lacked the selflessness of the girl who was beautiful inside and out. Rini was almost positive that if she dated Aki, she would end up with his pressures, and frankly, she did not want to deal with that. This was the first day of school after the summer break, and she could not wait to see if there was anything new with her friends. She rounded the corner, and pushed through the doors to the room that her classes were in, "Rini!" Her friend Momoko called, and they hugged each other, "Momo-chan, how was your summer?"  
  
"Great, how was yours?"  
  
"Lonely."  
  
"No guy?"  
  
"No guy." Rini confirmed. Momoko smiled, and said, "Well, we have a new bishonen alert, so maybe you won't be dateless for all of the dances again. His name is Elios, and he's eighteen." It was not uncommon for the school to throw classes together with freshmen, juniors, and seniors, "You know how I feel about guys, most of them don't even care about you, just about your looks."  
  
"Elios is different, he's sweet, charming, and really shy. He's never dated anyone in his life! He's the one with silvery hair." Rini scanned the crowd of guys, and immediately found the back of Elios' head, "I see him." Unfortunately, she could not say if he was cute or not by the back of his head, "You will see his face soon enough, and boy will you be surprised."  
  
"Why?" At that moment, he turned, and Rini had to clamp her mouth shut, "Now you see." His eyes were golden, not freakishly, but a dark gold-orange color, "H... hai." He locked eyes with her, and she almost stopped breathing, "Elios, he's looking at you Rini."  
  
"Nani? He's looking at you."  
  
"Since when has that ever been the case?" She looked at her friend, forcing herself to break eye contact with Elios, "Don't underestimate yourself Momo-chan."  
  
"I'm not, I just pale in comparison to you, guys look right through me and at you instead." It was true; Rini had to admit it, for Momoko often got so excited when a boy started walking towards her, that when he went to Rini, she was really disappointed. The bell rang, and they sat down in the front, and Elios sat next to Rini.  
  
Elios Tsunama was too preoccupied with the girl next to him to pay attention in class. When they got out, he went to the group that had apparently accepted him, "Who's the girl with pink hair?"  
  
"Serena Tsukino, but everyone calls her Rini. She's also way out of your league." He furrowed his brow, "Why do you say that?"  
  
"She's never dated any guy, most of us can't get up the nerve to ask her, and Aki would kill you if you tried."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"He's bent on dating her, but she has yet to say yes to him. She's his territory now."  
  
"Since when is a girl any guy's territory?"  
  
"Since she became the bishojo of the campus."  
  
"I can't argue with that statement."  
  
"Don't risk it."  
  
"I'm not afraid of a pretty-boy like Aki."  
  
"If you can do it, I will give you twenty dollars."  
  
"Since when did the Japanese start using dollars?"  
  
"They didn't, I just need to get rid of my American money, and I don't have the time to exchange it." Elios and the guy shook on it, and Elios looked at Rini, who was surrounded by a group of otakus. The guy that he presumed was Aki went up to her then, and said, "It's a new year sweetie, will you go out with me?"  
  
"I told you not to call me that! No, I will not go out with you." Elios felt himself smile at her answer, "Come on Rini! I have asked you out at least thirty times!"  
  
"I'm not interested." Aki stormed away from her, "Wasn't that a bit harsh, I mean, he is the hottest guy in school." Her brunette friend said, "Not in my eyes Momo-chan."  
  
"And who exactly would you say yes to?"  
  
"A certain bishonen that we spoke about earlier."  
  
"You mean Elios... Mph!" He blinked, realizing that they were talking about him. Rini had elbowed her friend in the stomach, "He's right there you baka!" Elios pretended like he wasn't watching them, and turned towards the classroom.  
  
Rini knew that Elios had heard Momoko, "Nani! Gomen nasai!"  
  
"He heard you Momo-chan." She paled, "Gomen nasai! I did not know!" Rini shook her head, "Why do you think I didn't use his name?"  
  
"Oh." She gave her friend a hug, "He would have found out anyway, though I would have liked to have him at least get to know me before he heard me say that I like him." Momoko nodded, and she pulled back, "Can I go out with Aki?"  
  
"I would rather you not, he might take advantage of you."  
  
"Why do you always say that about him?"  
  
"I have a bad feeling about him, and he has a major attitude."  
  
"Well, no one's perfect." She sighed, and Momoko walked off, "I'll see you later; I have drama."  
  
"Suits you well enough." Rini laughed, and turned towards the stairs, and found her way to the theater. As soon as she sat down, the bell rang, "Welcome class, as you may or may not know, we will be writing, casting, and staring in a play. Today will be an audition to see who has the dancing, acting, and singing abilities required for a lead. All of you must take good notes on each of the auditions so that I can compare my results with your own. I'm giving you five minutes to warm up your voices and limbs." Rini smiled to herself as she thanked her parents for forcing her into those subjects. She raised her hand, "Yes?"  
  
"Will this be achapella?"  
  
"If you have your music, please bring it to me." Everyone stood and went off in a different corner to practice. Rini sorted through her collection of music, which was from years past when she had been in school choruses, and smiled as she came across "Till there was you". She was one of the few people who could hit the real notes. She took the music to the teacher, and he nodded, "An American song eh?" She nodded, and found a place backstage to warm up.   
  
In five minutes, he called them back, and Rini realized that Elios was in the class as well. She sat back in the seat, "For the purposes of this audition, I am seating you in alphabetical order." What was Elios' last name? He placed them, and put Elios in a seat, then he called out her name, "Great." She muttered, and sat down next to the silver haired boy. When he was done, the teacher started calling up students in alphabetical order from Z-A. When it was Rini's turn, she breathed deeply, and stood in front of the class, "I'm Serena or Rini Tsukino, I am a freshman, and I will be singing 'Till there was you' from 'The Music Man'." All her nerves were gone when the teacher played the piece in an alto key; "I'm a first soprano." He smiled, and she knew that was a good sign. Rini waited for the introduction to end, "There were bells..." Rini hit every note and was very pleased with the results when everyone clapped. The teacher threw a script at her, "Now to see your acting abilities; this is a dramatic scene." She read it quickly to herself, and realized that it was from 'Romeo and Juliet'. It was the ling where Juliet says, "Romeo oh Romeo, where for art thou...?" Rini had done the play in America when she visited with her parents over the summer. She threw down the script, and recited the line completely from memory; "You have acted as Juliet before?"  
  
"I was the understudy, I was actually Lady Capulet." Understudies were notorious in Japan for not learning their lines correctly, "Now for dancing... What kind of dancing do you know Miss Tsukino?"  
  
"I know tap, line, square, swing, ballroom, ballet, rhythmic gymnastics..."  
  
"I would ask you to do some swing dancing, but alas, I doubt that anyone of these gentlemen actually know how to." Rini was surprised when Elios stood up, "I can."  
  
"Be our guest, we can come back to you Elios, go come up with a quick routine." They went backstage and did so without much speaking. Thus, Rini was completely taken aback when Elios said, "So you'd go out with me if I asked you to?"  
  
"That may have been a bit hasty, considering the fact that I do not really know you, and that would definitely factor into the answer." He dipped her, "Why did you say know to Aki?"  
  
"I don't like him first of all, second of all, he is a total jerk." Pulling her up, he nodded, and twirled her; "I can understand that."  
  
"Why are you even asking?"  
  
"I'm interested in you, and unlike most guys, I'm not afraid to say it."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"You're beautiful, talented, and smart. What's not to like?"  
  
"You think I'm talented?"  
  
"Very, maybe you didn't realize that most of the class was amazed by your performance. You're going to star in the show that we put on. No one, at least not the girls can follow your performance without messing up." As if on cue, a nose that sound like a squeaky wheel came from the stage, "Ouch that hurt my ears." They finished, and took their seats as a girl ran off stage in tears, "Tsukino and Tsunama, you're up." 


	2. A Star Performance

Elios and Rini took their places, and started the dance. They had barely gotten through half of it when the teacher said, "Sit down Miss Tsukino, it's your turn Mr. Tsunama." He pulled a sheet of music from his pocket, and handed it to the teacher, "Dream a Dream? You can't possibly pull this off without a first or second soprano, do you know the song Miss Tsukino?"  
  
"I love it, I will sing it in second soprano." Clearly she was a girl of many talents, "Thanks." He whispered, and they sang, "When the night is still, and the sea is calm, lonely shadow, you call upon me..." Everyone applauded, and they sat down again. Elios was most definitely attracted to this girl; "I would like to see you both after class that was magnificent. I'm sorry that we had to drop your acting audition Mr. Tsunama, but we are short on time." The rest of the auditions were hurried along, and they all muttered a curse for being out-acted by Elios and Rini.   
  
The two of them stayed after class and the teacher told them to sit, "You two are quite the pair, I have rarely had such fine actors on my stage, and both of you have tremendous stage presence."  
  
"Arigato." They both said at once, "I can see your greatest strengths, Elios' is in his dancing, and Rini, yours resides in singing. Did you somehow plan this or something?"  
  
"That would be impossible, we only met today." He said nonchalantly, and he could sense Rini's gaze on him, "I see, well you likely have the leads in whatever play we do. I do not do so many musicals, but this will have to be one. How many plays have you each been in?"  
  
"Fifty-six." Rini said, and both teacher and student stared at her, "Twenty-eight, how did you manage that?"  
  
"I had an agent when I was younger who arranged a whole two years of stage productions, and one movie for me."  
  
"A movie, which one?"  
  
"Nothing big, just a role in 'The Secret Garden' I had the smallest part as a girl in the orphanage." He could believe it, she looked more American that Japanese, "And you Mr. Tsunama?"  
  
"I traveled in the U.S. for 'The Music Man'."  
  
"So did I! Who were you?"  
  
"I was in the Barbershop Quartet as Oliver Hix; it was a teen performance agency."  
  
"I was Marian, same thing." He could have guessed that, "So you have quite a bit of experience." The teacher said, "Not that much..."  
  
"Do not be naïve that is a lot more work than most professionals ever do."  
  
"I... I don't like to brag."  
  
"I can see why." 


End file.
